Laura Wetzel

Scorpions as Seismologists part of Geophysics:Workshop 07:Geophysics Activities
Students investigate how seismologists and scorpions use wave travel times to locate sources of movement. The primary strength of this exercise is that it links geophysics and biology to enhance interest for ...

Coriolis Effect Activity part of Teach the Earth:Teaching Activities
The Coriolis Effect is the deflection of moving objects when they are viewed in a rotating reference frame. In oceanography, we are most interested in how the Coriolis Effect moves winds and ocean currents on the ...

Crossword Puzzles to Review Mineral Concepts part of Mineralogy:Activities
Students complete a crossword puzzle to review the physical properties of minerals that are helpful in hand specimen identification. Mineral names and characteristics are particularly well-suited for a crossword format. Two versions are provided, one at an introductory level and one for more advanced undergraduates. Instructor files provided are easy to customize.

Geological Oceanography One-Page Papers part of Data, Simulations and Models:Online Data Sets 2015:Activities
Each student in the Geological Oceanography class writes a series of one-page papers for topics throughout the semester, presents one topic as a 3 to 5 minute oral presentation, and revises all papers as a ...

What Kind of Continental Margin am I? Active or Passive? part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
Volcanoes, earthquakes, and topography reveal whether a continental margin is active or passive. In this activity, students use the GeoMapApp tool to work with earthquake, volcano, and topographic data to identify ...

News Flash: MARGINS Discovery Student Presentations part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
Students describe MARGINS research results in a two to four minute oral class presentation. The assignment is appropriate for any class that covers topics related continental margins.

Profiling Earth's Surface using GeoMapApp part of MARGINS Data in the Classroom:MARGINS Mini-Lessons
In this exercise, students relate large-scale features on Earth's surface to lithospheric plates, the underlying asthenosphere, earthquakes, and volcanoes. After creating a cross section showing elevation using GeoMapApp, students add additional features by hand.

Earthquake Magnitude: How Can We Compare the Sizes of Earthquakes? part of Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum:General Collection:Examples
Spreadsheets Across the Curriculum module. Students build spreadsheets to tabulate and graph seismic wave amplitude and energy release to explore the logarithmic scale of earthquake magnitude.

Periodic Table of the Elements Activity part of Geochemistry:Activities
Students work in groups to create the Periodic Table of the Elements in class using cards that they completed as homework. This is meant as a review of the Periodic Table and a direct illustration of how Dmitri ...